Ön Bérlet
by Jessesgirl1549
Summary: Caught in a blizzard, Saya and Haji are stuck at an Inn until the weather calms. One simple question leads to a telling of Haji's past. If only he knew one little thing could lead to another. Post Blood Plus Adiago/Episode 17. Hinted crossover, not quite
1. Chapter 1

**A/n: I know there are many Haji-history stories, but I promise you this will be different, so bare with me.**** I don't own Blood+.**

**"Ön Bérlet", "Letting you in".**

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As I crossed the threshold of the door, stepping out into the road, I was met by a sudden gust. The quick wind carried snow and a bitter chill that ran through me, tousled my hair and caused goosebumps to rise on my cheek. I had the urge to jerk abruptly back into the tavern, but as a few seconds passed, my body adapted to the freezing temperature.

A hand, a very light and warm hand, was placed on my arm.

"Has the blizzard passed?" Saya inquired.

I could sense her looking around my frame which blocked her view of the outside. A smile might have been found shining in my eyes as I pictured her peering under my arm, like a curious kitten, and turning her head this way and that to see the white-blanked world outside the Inn.

"Yes."

She came to my side, joining me in the cold. Shivering once while looking left to right, she smiled and nodded approvingly. "Should we go then?"

"Yes, let us."

My friend lead us into the cool night, walking three steps a head of me. Humming to herself while I let my thoughts wander, and at the same time still alert.

Our trek began and progressed the way it should have been, quiet and peaceful. Nothing except the snow breaking under the soles of our boots, and the occasional owl hooting from its place in the barren trees. I expected nothing less, as well as nothing more. It was a simple and still night, with cloudless skies that seemed blue under the completely round moon that shined brighter than the lamp Saya carried, A good night for travel.

I never expected anything eventful to happen. Nothing memorable, though I would probably would have remembered the night anyway, even if nothing odd happened. It was the memory of a Chevalier that I kept in my mind.

But something did happen, something that caught me off guard, and it began with a simple question.

"Haji?"

"Yes?"

"When we left Pokrovskoye, why did you cut your hair?" She began to walk backwards, facing me with her hands behind her back in a fashion much like the way I was when standing still, her head was titled to the side slightly.

"Saya, watch where you are going or you will trip." I cautioned her, brushing the question a side. The road was covered in snow, though visible, the swallow dips and deeper potholes were hidden.

She ignored me and continued on, only swinging her arms at her sides instead of having them behind her. "Why did you? I'm not saying it looks bad, in fact it's nice, a good change in pace. But why?"

We rounded a bend in the road, I almost reached out and grabbed her by the wrist if she had not momentarily went back to walking correctly so she could make the turn without falling. Yet, as soon as all present curves in the path were cleared, she reverted to walking backwards.

"Tell me Haji, why?" My small friend persisted.

Saya seemed to be getting some kind of strange amusement out of the whole thing, but what specifically escaped me. It could have been the answers she was thinking of in her head that would provide an antidote to her pondering, or the concern I was showing for her well-being. Whatever her reason, it was cruel and I found nothing amusing about it.

The second I averted my eyes from her, to the nocturnal scene of the woods around us, and my mouth opened as I began to answer, there was a lound snap. And my heart jumped from my chest as I realized what happened.

Her arms waved in the air, her body twisted in the direction her unbalanced feet had, if seen in slow motion she would have looked like a graceful dancer spinning. Only she was falling backward, therefore, nothing was graceful about it. And unlike a dancer, she would not have landed unharmed in a certain spot.

Well, not if I hadn't been there.

"..."

"..."

Her lips parted but her taken yelp was unheard, replaced by a mild ruffle of clothing as she landed safely into the cradle of my arms.

I pulled her on her feet and against me. When I glanced down at her again, her blank eyes were still wide and only with the passing of a few seconds did she blink and process what had happened. Then, after she was caught up to speed, she blinked before her pink hands tightened on my coat.

Sweeping her dark hair away from her face, I shook my head. "I told you to be careful..."

Eyes avoiding mine, cheeks flushed. Saya was quiet. She put distance between us, retrieved the lamp and continued walking. I made sure we were three steps apart.

If I had been fifteen again, I would have taken the opportunity to tease her about being wrong for not listening. But I was not a child anymore and took no humor from the situation either. If she had fallen and twisted her ankle, we would have been delayed until the morning when the injury healed, therefore put back in our schedule.

The night wore on and the temperature dropped from its place at freezing, to almost a dangerously low point. The winds picking up and snow beginning to fall again. I knew it was mearly a matter of time before the situation would become far too much for Saya to bare.

"Saya." I called to her as she picked up her pace when I attempted to walk beside her. "Saya please, I will not mock you. It's getting colder and the snow is beginning to fall. I think it's best if we stopped and found shelter."

"No it's fine, I can handle it." she replied softly, looking over her shoulder to address me.

"Saya."

Her hands were stuffed into her pockets, by the way they bulged I could tell she had them in fists. The tops of her ears, where her short hair curled, were reddened like the tip of her nose. Her shoulders were sagging and she had added a sleepy sway to her step. Fatigue was prominent; I feared that she might somehow snap in half from the snow that was falling much heavier now, or that she just might fall over again. Yet she was stubborn and I tried to figure out a way to persuade her to be logical and do as I suggested.

"... It's because I thought I resembled Grigori." I said minutes later.

Saya slowed her pace but did not look at me.

"What?" she asked.

"I cut my hair because I believed Grigori and I looked similar." I told her. Continuing, I adjusted the cello on my shoulder,"it's ridiculous when said aloud, I realize that. But, he and I were so a like, in a way. That it-"

Her shoulders were stiffened, as if holding her breath and waiting for the rest. I closed my eyes and sighed.

"-It frightened me. Grigori and I both were very loyal to the ones we serve. Everything we did was to ensure the safety of the ones we loved, as well as the promise that we could stay by their sides. He wanted nothingbut to be loved," I watched her relax and heard her sigh deeply,"as do I. He talked of things that I dreamed of: being alone with my Queen and having no one harm her."

"But he was ev-"

"-No, Saya, he was not evil. He was a tortured soul who was corrupted by the desire for love. He was what I might be, if you throw me away like Diva did to him. And I did not want to be cast away, I did not want to be without you Saya. So, I resented Grigori and the similarities we shared, so I threw away the physical ones and cropped my hair short."

I was finished with my explanation, and waited with baited breath for her response.

There was a pause.

"Are you not satisfied with my answer Saya?" I asked her with my usual somber tone that came to aid my calm presence in tension ladened moments.

She stopped walking and allowed me to stand next to her. The toes of her boots pointed inward, they were the focus of her gaze. She was biting her lip and had her hands clasped behind her back. I waited.

And finally:

"You know I would never send you away."

A tinge of warmth flowed from my hand, which was warm since I had kept mine in my pockets, to hers, which was considerably colder from being kept out, when I laced our fingers together. Saya flexed her fingers in the hold, trying to remember how they fit together. It was the first time in almost forty years that we had done such a thing. Slowly, the feeling became familiar again.

I bent my head down to whisper in her ear and reassured her in my native tongue. "_Egyserű, Egy Kedves."  
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Her cold fingers squeezed mine. Though she didn't understand, my comrade took the words as comfort. And before she could ask what I had told her, I cut her off.

"I see lights a mile or so down, maybe there is a town we can stay in."

"Alright."

Hours later the grandfather clock, by the door in Saya and I's room at the Inn of the small village, showed four in the morning. I half sat and half laid beside my sleepy sweetheart in the canopied bed that was our for the night. She laid on her side facing me, our hands were still clasped together.

Both of us were awake.

I looked beyond Saya to the window on her side of the room. White ice was swirling around in a mad dance carried by the wind, which also swayed the gnarled branches of the trees in the portion of the wood that I could see at a distance, in such dim light. We would be snowed in for a day or so if the snowstorm continued like the last one had. That was certain. I knew so, and would not put it passed Saya to know either.

"Haji?" her voice was less than a whisper.

My index finger moved in a light circle on the back of her hand. "Yes?"

"What did you say to me earlier? And that language, what was it?""

She took our hands and brought them to rest on the space between her throat and her chest, just below her collarbone. Closing my eyes, I felt with each time I exhaled, she inhaled and our hearts were synchronized. It was something that I had not noticed before then, but realized happened often between the two of us. The experience was very... intriguing...

"It was Hungarian, my language." I replied.

The shutter outside banged against the window, I felt her heartbeat jump beneath my hand. "What did you say? Please tell me."

"If that is what you wish. I said: "Easy, Dear One". "

A brief silence came between us.

"Is that where you're from? Are you Hungarian?"

"On my mother's side. My father was of a mixed decent: Irish, English, Romanian..." recollecting the few times my father and I talked of our heritage, I paused,"I believe he also mentioned Persia, but that might have been a lie."

Saya shook with quiet laughter. "Why don't you just say you are everything? Because it sounds like it."

"... Perhaps." The corners of my mouth quirked upwards. "Or perhaps I am a... mutt."

She shifted a little, uncomfortably. "Well, I don't like that. It sounds..."

"It's fitting. I am of many cultures, mixed like a stray canine." I explained my thoughts exactly as they had been formed in my mind. Apart from the true meaning of the word that I connected with myself, but deemed irrelevant.

The minutes went by and I felt Saya's breathing slow. She blinked to keep her eyes open and fidgeted to stay awake. I reached out and turned the lamp out, putting the room in complete darkness. It was an attempt to have her sleep. Though, I knew she did not want to.

Unlocking our fingers, I set my hand over hers so she had proper circulation in her hand. I slid closer to her allowed myself to hide my face in her hair, without thinking over the possibility that I might not be welcome to move any closer.

Suddenly I felt her hand on the back of my neck. She looked up at me in the dark, moving her fingers through my hair which had been squared off in the back and sides, but naturally mussed and stuck up in the front. I stiffened, unsure of what she was doing and what was going to happen next.

"You know, that's the first thing you've ever told me about your life outside the Zoo." Saya said, her voice thick with sleep. That was true. She laughed,"thinking about it, I don't think I know really much about you at all Haji. And you know everything about me."

I hesitated to say what I was going to next, but did anyway. "... My history is always available to you, if you wish to know."

"Then tell me."

Relaxing only to the point where my body wasn't a stiff board, my eyes shut. She wasn't going to sleep anytime soon.

And so, I began.

"My mother's name was Sonja, and she was... somewhat of royalty. And my father's name was Lucian, and he was a slave..."

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**A/n: Like it? Hate it? Please let me now whether or not. As well as if I should continue. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: Thank you my friends for faving and reviewing, I hope you all like the update. I don't own Blood+.**

**Translation:**

**"****Facile, facile"-"Easy, easy" French**

**"Je suis désolé"-"I'm sorry" French**

**"Nem, ne bocsánatot kér. A hiba az enyém. Sajnálom egy kedves"-"No, don't apologize. The fault is mine. I'm sorry Dear one." Hungarian**

**"Bérbeadása ön?"-"Letting you in?" Hungarian**

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"My mother was raised in a environment filled with men, she felt an urge to be strong, to be a skilled fighter and hunter. It lead her to swordsmanship, horse-riding and taking up tasks that the centuries usually did. It also lead her to my father," I paused.

My eyes closed as I smoothed Saya's hair away from her face. She moved to curl against my side, I held my breath while she did this, and savored the warmth she radiated. It was an indulgence.

With a deep inhale I continued,"They were born on the same night, one in a cage, the other in a fine, sleeping chamber. They were both born and raised within the same walls and under the same roof, but they were worlds apart. Until the day, my father started his apprenticeship under the blacksmith, they crossed paths. And neither one could leave well enough alone."

She stirred again, her eyes drooping and lips pursed. "What were their names again?"

"Lucian and Sonja."

If she could have found the energy, I knew Saya would have smiled. "Lucian the blacksmith and Sonja the Princess..."

"Yes... and they loved one another very much, according to my father. He told me they would share very frequent, yet brief meetings. Whether it be a simple wave between her studies, or an exchange of few words by the hearth."

_Wide grey eyes found the composed, gentle yet strong face they were looking for. The eyes twinkled and the face seemed the brighten.  
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_"Good morning." _

_"Your hair looks best down."_

_"As does yours."_

Scenes, memories, snippets of their meetings were projected on the space that was my closed lids. As if I was there, as if they were bonding before me.

"Every second they could have, they used them to know one another, to try to ease the loneliness they felt. And with time they grew, and as they did, they fell in love. All unbeknown to my grandfather, who would rather have her..."

The wind violently slammed the shutters against the window's glass.

My nostrils flared as I exhaled - suddenly, the one contently snug at my side, her fingers grazed my face, skimming softly, leaving trails of fire upon my skin. Silently, she nudged me on, to finish the tale of my past. The shutters stopped banging against the window.

"He would rather of had her dead, then with someone like my father. And when the time came, when their secret could not be kept any longer, he... he saw to it she was." Saya stiffened hearing that, I traced circles on her back to soothe her. I had come to terms with it many times, I still felt anger, but I had accepted it. "My grandfather tortured them, nearly beating my mother to death, leaving her barely alive to have me."

"My father was stronger by far, he endured and saved me. After, he and his comrades began traveling, to escape the grandfather who condemned my mother to death and to find a place to raise me. We traveled, joined eventually by a band of gypsies." I softened my voice, her breathing was slowing. "They raised me until the time the slave traders came, and tore the family apart..."

"And then you came to me..." she murmured sleepily.

There was much more to the story rather than the simple end she concluded with, yet I pulled my fingers through her hair and looked to the swirling, white, world outside. Saying nothing more to provoke her to stay awake.

My lips parted, a sigh escaped me. I found myself pressing a kiss to her forehead, "Yes. Then I was brought to you."

If only I had not kissed her, then she would have slept. Instead, her eyes opened wide and there was a defiant look she gave me, that declared she would not be sleeping now. Her eyes flickered to mine.

"Tell me your story."

_Please just go to sleep._

"I did."

Saya propped herself up on her elbow to look at me. "That was _their _story. What's _yours_? How did you come to the Zoo? Why did Joel and Amshel choose you? Do you know?"

The wind howled, and though we were safe inside. I shivered hard, almost spasming, as if the cold breeze ran through the room. It was like the frost had invaded the walls and cracked its stinging, frozen whip down my back.

"Haji?" Her hand touched my cheek.

Seeking refuge in her presence, I tightened my arms around her, squeezing my eyes shut. I managed to find my voice. "My... my story..."

Saya found away to put herself around me and cradle me against her chest, as if our difference in size was not a difficulty. She whispered things that I assumed were me to hear, but they were too soft to be for me. I felt fourteen years old again, having to be comforted by her. Needing to cry the pain of my past out on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" She said,"I'm sorry, if you don't want to tell me... that's okay."

Her hands raked up my back soothingly.

_Calm down, calm down_. Taking a few deep even breaths, my body gently shook, as I relaxed. Subconsciously, I felt my nose tracing her collarbone and nuzzling the hollow of her throat. I was not an emotional person, I was not use to being so. Saya and I's mission would not allow me to be. But I could not help but succumb the overpowering feeling of vulnerability rushing through my being, I was unsure of what had even brought it on.

_"__Facile, facile..."_ she whispered, breaking the streak of Russian that we had grown fond of using the last few months. _"Je suis désolé"_

All the space between us disappeared, I was unaware of which one of us had began the suffocatingly tight embrace. It was as if we were trying to physically push our emotions into one another.

_"Nem, ne bocsánatot kér. A hiba az enyém. Sajnálom egy kedves._" My words she could not decode, yet I could reason that the point was not relevant when Saya squeezed my fingers. Assuring me everything was all right.

The dark, infant, morning wind was inaudible then.

"No more apologizes."

My eyes fluttered closed while I pressed my cheek against the space between her collar and chest. I heard her heartbeat slow to a soft drumming."Very well... Sleep Saya."

A rush of drowsiness washed over me, her fingers pulled through the hair on the nape of my neck. She sighed and spoke softly,"Good night Haji."

For the first time in many years, I fell asleep. And for the first time in our lives, we fell asleep in each others' arms.

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The train's whistle pierced the air.

Saya flipped to the next page of the newspaper she had gotten in Vladivostok. She held the paper in one hand and left one hand on the table for me. I glanced out the window at the moving scenery as I took her hand.

The events of the night before ran through my mind.

"Saya."

Her eyes jumped to mine. "Hm?"

"... Would you like to know the story?" I asked her softly.

Her paper rustled, a timid smile was visible on her lips. She tilted her head, her thumb rubbed the back of my hand. "If you're ready to tell me."

I exhaled through my nostrils, glancing down at our hands. "_Bérbeadása ön?_ I believe so..."

"Okay," my Queen folded the paper and set it a side, then placed her free hand over the hold of our others. She smiled truly, giving me her undivided attention, something I did not earn often.

Running a hand through my short hair, I paused, then began.

"There was a specific reason to why they chose me. I did not know it at the time, but after reading Joel's letters to the slave traders that once owned me, I understood. As precious as your blood may have been to him, mine was of equal interest to others..."

Later on that night, by the time I had ended my tale, Saya and I were much closer. More than I thought possible. And unknowingly, a possibility for our future would be developed.

I suppose, with one action causing another and the ability to let someone in, fate is shaped unpredictably. Yet, I will understand in the distant future, it is for the best.

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**-Extra Bonus fluff I didn't know where to put-**

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_"Easy," Saya's hand wrapped around my sore one. I cautioned her again. "Be careful."_

_Tired, drugged eyes met mine. An exhausted smile brightened her face. "Haji where is...?"_

_"With Julia, it's all right. Just be patient." I stroked her flushed cheek.  
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_"Did she show you?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Did you count the toes? A mutt like ours could have something wrong with it."_

_Bending over the rail of the bed. I placed a kiss on her forehad. "I assure you. Ten fingers and toes."_

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**A/n: Please review and let me know what you thought C:**_  
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